


Four Little Words

by nhasablog



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Polyamory, Tickle Fights, Tickling, Tickling community, tickle kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 10:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8620342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nhasablog/pseuds/nhasablog
Summary: “I want to understand this whole tickling thing and its community better.”Bucky nearly had a heart attack when he heard those words. “You- what?”Tony repeated himself, but Bucky didn’t panic any less the second time. “I know it’s a huge part of your life, and I just want to understand it more.”“If you want to tell us, that is,” Steve added.(Or, Bucky has a tickle kink and Tony and Steve want to understand)





	

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, Bucky does have a tickle kink in this, but nothing sexual ever goes down. It's all about him trying to explain what it all means to his two partners (yes, they're poly in this). My lack of warnings are literally because there's not much to warn about here, except that it's about tickling, so if that's not your thing you might not enjoy this. If you do stick around, however, I hope that you will like this. Hopefully I can try to show that it's not as weird as it might sound.

“I want to understand this whole tickling thing and its community better.”

Bucky nearly had a heart attack when he heard those words. “You- what?”

Tony repeated himself, but Bucky didn’t panic any less the second time. “I know it’s a huge part of your life, and I just want to understand it more.”

“If you want to tell us, that is,” Steve added.

Bucky, quite frankly, didn’t know what to say. Ever since he’d told them about his little liking a week prior he’d refused to ever say anything similar to those words again. He’d been lucky that they’d accepted him without question, and they _did_ tickle him a little more now, but he’d never thought his two boyfriends would want to know more. To be honest he wasn’t really sure how to explain it all either.

He shifted awkwardly where he was sitting on their bed. “What do you want to know?”

Tony sat down beside him. “ _Everything_. It’s a community, isn’t it? What does that mean, and how does it work?”

Bucky licked his lips. “Well-”

Steve and Tony looked so interested, but he couldn’t get his heart to stop freaking out.

* * *

 

_Bucky observed them for a long time, his heart somewhere in his throat; aching to tell them. It had gotten to that point where he couldn’t really look at them without secretly wishing he were braver, and that only resulted in him averting his eyes and spluttering out some sort of excuse if the others noticed his strange behavior. It was all a torturous circle, and Bucky wanted it to end so badly._

_All he had to do was say those words. Four little words and it would all be okay. Even if Steve and Tony would end up finding him disgusting or weird at least it would be out in the open._

_Steve was the one to confront him, of course. “What’s wrong?” he asked after Bucky had spent nearly twenty minutes sporadically watching them._

_Bucky looked up like a deer caught in the headlights. “What?”_

_“You’re acting weird. As if you want to say something, but keep holding yourself back.” Steve sat down in front of him on the bed. “Whatever it is I want you to know that it’s okay to tell us.”_

_They’d caught Tony’s attention, but he remained where he was for the time being, not sure if this moment was meant for him too. Bucky had considered telling them one at a time, but the idea of having to repeat himself, especially if the first one took it badly, was too much for him to handle._

_He cleared his throat. “There’s something you guys should know. About me.”_

_Tony was on the bed in an instant, concern as evident on his face as on Steve’s. “Is it serious?”_

_“Not technically.”_

_“You’re scaring me, though.”_

_Bucky couldn’t help the little laugh that escaped his lips. “That’s because I’m terrified.”_

_Steve frowned. “Now_ I’m _terrified.”_

_“Please don’t be,” Bucky said. “I promise it’s nothing serious. I’m just nervous to tell you and can’t seem to make my heart stop freaking out.”_

_Tony shook his head. “Please just spit it out before_ my _heart starts freaking out.”_

_Bucky opened his mouth and wasn’t sure if he would be spilling lies or expose his very soul._

* * *

 

He put a hand over his heart, begging it to slow. “You guys know that I like it.”

“That much we got. You wouldn’t stop blushing and stammering though, so we decided to give you a few days,” Steve said, as if his words didn’t make Bucky flush immediately.

“Yeah, well,” Bucky continued, ignoring his burning face. “It’s kind of hard to pinpoint exactly _why_ I like it. All I know is that I enjoy it, and I found a group of people on the internet who enjoy it too.”

“And that’s the tickling community?” Tony asked for clarification.

Bucky nodded slowly. “Exactly. We’re not all the same though. Some people write stories - or fanfiction - that either center around t-tickling or simply include it.” Please god let them not have heard his stutter. “Others post videos or more erotic stories that aren’t about fictional characters. Others keep their blogs safe and sweet. It’s all very different, but it all comes down to one common denominator.”

“And that’s tickling.” Bucky was sure Tony was just enjoying the chance to make him squirm.

“Yes. A lot of people create blogs and start talking to others, but there are also a lot of people who just lurk around anonymously without having a blog or anything. And yes, before you ask, I’m one of those people.”

“Why haven’t you created your own blog?” Steve asked, genuinely surprised.

Bucky rubbed at the back of his neck. “I just haven’t felt comfortable. This is still such a new thing for me. I mean, I’ve always known I _liked_ it-” He could’ve sworn both of their mouths twitched upward at that. “-but this whole online community is a new concept. I’m not sure if I would like having my own blog. Hell, I wouldn’t even know what to _put_ on there.”

Tony tilted his head. “And you’d be paranoid we’d find it.” That wasn’t a question.

Bucky inhaled slowly. “That too.”

“I still don’t get how you could walk around for months thinking we’d judge you,” Steve cut in, looking slightly offended. “As if we’d look at you any different.”

“Steve,” Bucky started, looking at the sheets as he searched for the right words. “You don’t know what it’s like to have a… a kink, I guess, and being ashamed of it.”

“Fair enough, but I hope you know better than to be ashamed now.”

Bucky wrung his hands together, but Tony spoke before he could. “You’re embarrassed to talk about it, but I hope that’s not because you don’t trust us.”

“Of course I trust you, guys. You know I do. It’s just such a weird thing to talk about. I can’t help but become, well, this.” He pointed to himself. “This flustered mess.”

“It’s rather endearing,” Tony said with a grin. “But I don’t want to cause you any unnecessary embarrassment. Keep telling us about the community.”

Bucky wasn’t sure if he was grateful or not for the change of topics. “The community is also separated into two- no, three groups. Lers, lees, and switches.” He couldn’t believe he was saying this aloud. He really couldn’t believe it. “Lers are the ticklers. The people who do the tickling.” He hadn’t stuttered, so he considered it a bonus. “The lees are the ticklees. The people getting tickled. The victims, if you may. And switches are people who enjoy being both lees and lers. They get, uh, pleasure out of doing both.”

“And you’re a lee?” Tony asked, sounding as if he was concentrating very hard to keep track of it all. “You enjoy being on the receiving end more?”

“I do…”

“So that would make me and Steve your lers.”

“Technically, but seeing as you’re not really-” Bucky cut himself off with a hum. “Well, you’re not really _in_ the community, are you? I wouldn’t say every person who has ever tickled someone is a ler, in that sense.”

“Okay,” Tony said, dragging out the word. “I think that makes sense.”

“It’s really not as complicated as it might sound,” Bucky said. “And people are very nice. Most of the time. There are a few creeps who sometimes interact with people - mostly females, and mostly minors - in an inappropriate way. But generally it’s a pretty nice and accepting little community.” Bucky paused briefly to look up at them, meeting their eyes for the first time since the conversation started. “I’m very happy to be a part of it.”

Their smiles calmed him down. They always calmed him down.

* * *

 

_“I have this thing,” he said, wincing at how weird his voice sounded. How insecure. “This liking, I guess. It’s not necessarily a sexual liking, but I guess in some sense it could be called a kink.” Don’t let his lack of stuttering fool you. He was having a metaphorical heart attack._

_Steve’s face was expressionless, but Tony had an eyebrow raised. “Go on,” he urged while Steve just sent him a smile._

_Bucky couldn’t keep looking at them. “It’s… weird. I know not everyone would find this a normal thing to enjoy, but I’ve liked it for as long as I can remember, and I’m just getting a little tired of keeping it from you. I’m not asking you to do this to me, but to just… I just want you to know, s’all.”_

_Steve’s hand found the top of his, forcing Bucky to look up and meet his gaze. “We won’t judge,” he said, but Bucky couldn’t take his words as a promise._

_He gave him a weak smile back, but had to withdraw his hand to wrap his arms around himself, as if for protection. “It’s-” Four little words, Barnes. “Well-” Four. Words. “I like being tickled.” Once his confession was out for the world to take in he felt both lighter and heavier than ever. It was a strange feeling._

_“Is that it?” Steve said before he could even start worrying about their reaction. “You like being tickled?”_

_Bucky covered his face, partly because he couldn’t deal with it being said aloud twice in the span of a minute, but also because his cheeks were burning more than ever. “Yeah.”_

_“That’s actually the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.” Tony was the one to say that, which surprised Bucky. “Hey, look at me.”_

_Bucky shook his head. “I can’t.”_

_“Come on. Please.” Bucky peeked through his fingers, which was good enough for Tony. “There’s nothing weird about you liking tickling.”_

_“On the contrary,” Steve filled in. “It’s endearing. You like something that makes you laugh, something that people use to bond. What’s weird or wrong about that?”_

_Bucky couldn’t think of anything. “Nothing, I guess.”_

_“Exactly.”_

_For the first time in what felt like ages Bucky felt himself relax. “Jesus Christ, I’ve been so worried.”_

_Steve and Tony pulled him into a hug, and he was only a little surprised when both of them gave him brief tickles to his sides._

_Maybe this hadn’t been such a bad idea after all._

* * *

 

“You never actually explained what it was that you liked about it,” Tony observed. “I think we just put words into your mouth.”

Bucky ran a hand over his face. “Why are you doing this to me?”

Tony barked out a laugh. “Sorry. I’m just curious, and I know you won’t tell us yourself.”

“I’m literally never going to tell you anything ever again unless you ask me to.”

“That’s why I’m asking you to.”

“I just like it,” Bucky said with a shrug. “I like how it feels. I like that it makes me laugh and squirm. I like how playful it is. I like how my body automatically tries to escape. I like how both me and my ler are having fun. I-” He paused, albeit briefly. “I like how it can turn me on, if the situation is right. It’s all about trust, right,” he was quick to add before his boyfriends could judge him. “Trust is something that I need to… be with someone.” He shook his head when he caught the small but obvious grins on their faces. “This conversation is over. I’m not answering any more questions ever again.”

“Aw, come on,” Steve said. “It’s cute.”

“It makes me feel like I’m missing out for not being into it myself,” Tony said. “I do have one more question, though.”

“Oh, I swear to- Just ask it. My face can’t possibly get redder than it probably is right now.”

“Can we tickle you right now?”

Oh, he was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Trying his very best to not look away, Bucky gave a slow nod. He had been aching to be properly tickled for so long that he wouldn’t even dream of declining that offer. “Please.”

“I like that you said please,” Tony said as he and Steve lunged forward.

Bucky fell down on the bed, the two of them hovering above him. “I want you to tell me about all the different ways you can pin someone,” Tony said, his breath hitting Bucky’s face.

“Guys…”

“Come on. Spit it out.”

“You can straddle their hips.”

“Like this?” Steve demonstrated, making Bucky’s breath hitch.

“Y-yes.”

“Go on.”

“You can pin their hands with your knees.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah. Or you can pin them above their head.”

“We’ll try that later.”

Bucky was very aware of the fact that he couldn’t cover his face now. “Some people straddle their lee’s back instead, or trap them between their body and a wall or something.”

“We’ll try those later too.”

“And what about the tickling, Bucky?” Steve asked. Bucky had never seen him look so amused and playful at the same time. “Are there different ways to tickle someone?”

Bucky licked his lips. “You can poke-ah!”

Steve had demonstrated once again. “Like this?”

“Y-yes. And you can wiggle your fingehehers!”

“You have a nice technique, Steve.”

“Why thank you, Tony. Please continue, Buck.”

“You can scribblehehe. And squeheheheeze! And- oh my gohohod!” They were both switching between those different methods, and it was throwing Bucky into hysterics already.

While Steve was focusing on his upper body, especially his ribs and tummy, Tony decided to try out his thighs and knees. It was almost worse to not be able to see him, since Steve was in the way. Bucky would be laughing desperately either way though, so maybe it didn’t matter too much.

“I bet I can name the different kinds of laughter without being in the community,” Tony said. “This right here is called howling. It only happens when you tickle several sensitive spots at the same time.”

“And once you slow down and focus on only one spot,” Steve said without ceasing his playful torture. “you will induce something called shrieking.”

“And if you poke around lightly all over the place you will be rewarded with something called giggling.”

“You guys suhuhuck!” Bucky cried, because listening to their casual conversation was way too surreal.

“Are we doing something wrong? Steve, what are we doing wrong?”

“Well, I think teasing is a big thing in the community. Maybe we should tease him.”

“That sounds good. I bet he will blush to death when we do.”

“Unless he dies of laughter first.”

“Okay, how does one tease?” Tony asked. “Do we just go ‘tickle, tickle, tickle’ or do we say things such as ‘you’re adorable when your face is all scrunched up’?”

“I think they both work.”

Bucky’s. Face. Was. On. Fire.

“Shihihihit!” he exclaimed when Steve hit a particularly sensitive spot on his lower stomach. “Dohohon’t!”

“Is it too much for you, Buck?” Tony asked as he scribbled behind his knee. “You’re just slightly too ticklish for your own good, aren’t you?”

“Keep talking. It’s working like a charm.”

How Steve could tell that Bucky didn’t know.

* * *

 

_They didn’t tickle him for very long, but at least they tickled him. He felt their fingers against his skin, wiggling slightly hesitatingly, and he knew that he’d made the right choice. He giggled into their embraces, his body squirming automatically._

_“Hehehey.”_

_“Are you okay with this?” Steve asked, stilling his hand momentarily._

_“I’m soho okay with this.”_

_Tony was tickling him with more vigor. A contrast to Steve’s careful fingers, Tony didn’t linger in just one place. He travelled from Bucky’s side to his lower back, testing the waters and coming up with satisfying results when Bucky’s laughter kicked up. Steve, on the other hand, was running his short fingernails up and down Bucky’s side, which had a rather positive effect as well._

_Trapped in their arms but knowing very well that he could escape whenever he wanted, Bucky laughed and laughed, and when it became too much he broke away and they all laughed together. Bucky didn’t understand how he could be this lucky._

* * *

 

“Hey, Buck?” Steve asked later that same night.

“Yeah?”

“Tell us some more things about this whole tickling community.”

Bucky hummed. “Some people like being tied up and tickled.”

“That’s the epitome of trust, I would say,” Tony piped in.

“That’s true. They usually have a safe word that they use if it gets too much.”

“That’s smart. Anything else?”

“Some people record themselves teasing a hypothetical lee.”

“I bet that’s left you flustered more than once.”

“No comments.”

“I really like that shade of pink on you, by the way.”

“Shut your mouth, Stark.”

Bucky would probably never bring tickling up again himself, but he never once regretted having told them. On the contrary, it had been the best decision he had ever made.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://nhasablog.tumblr.com)


End file.
